Tsubasa wo Kudasai
by Seishun Vibration
Summary: AU: Every night, Azusa is haunted by the same dream. At first, she saw it as a weird coincidence, but could it mean something more?  "In this huge sky, I wanna fly. Spread my wings and fly... Towards the sky, with no sadness." YuiAzu, Mitsu  MioRitsu .
1. Hello Little Girl

**Tsubasa wo Kudasai**

**(Please, Give Me Wings)**

**Chapter 1 – Hello Little Girl**

I know, I know. I should finish Slice of Life and Matryoshka!. But the outline and rough draft for this chapter have been sitting in my story notebook for quite some time now, so I figured that while I'm planning out the rest of Slice of Life and Matryoshka!, I could write this first chapter. And then I'm back to studying (x_x) and writing my Vocaloid fics.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own K-ON! and I wrote this story simply for fun.

* * *

><p><em>The group crossed the street, each wearing an expression of light-hearted humor. It was routine for the five to walk home together afterschool, at least for part of the way. Each day they walked down the familiar path, their school bags slung over one shoulder; and for three, an instrument case was latched onto the other shoulder. Their conversations were light, full of jokes and giggles. When they approached the street corner, they turned to one another, ready to say their goodbyes. <em>

"_Yosh! Azusa!" The tawny haired girl of the group slapped the shortest girl on the back. "Ja ne! See you tomorrow! Take care of Yui, yeah?" The grin on her face was wild, and her amber eyes tended to have a jokers glint to them. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her uniform's navy blazer and flapped them wildly._

_Immediately, a short haired brunette latched herself onto the short, twin tailed girl. A smile of content was on her face as she rubbed her cheek against the top of Azusa's head. A giggle of pleasure escaped her as she continued to nuzzle the lightly blushing twin tailed girl._

_The youngest girl scowled up at her attacker with garnet eyes. "Mou, Ritsu-senpai!" she whined, as she struggled to escape Yui's intense hug. "Yui-senpai and I don't walk all the way home together, you know!" The short girl's cheeks puffed out when she realized Ritsu was snickering. "What—What's so funny?"_

_Ritsu grinned and pushed her yellow headband back, the amused grin unwavering. "Nothing, nothing," she replied. "I was just kidding around. You need to calm down some, Azusa. If you're always tense like this, you might end up dieing young from a heart attack—A'DWAH!"_

_A stiffened hand had collided smartly with the top of Ritsu's head. The owner of said hand had an unamused frown on her face as she frowned at the tawny haired girl. "Ritsu, really," Akiyama Mio sighed. "You shouldn't tease people so much. And besides, don't go around saying stupid things—"_

"_Eh? But, Mio-chaun…" Ritsu interrupted the gray eyed girl as she rubbed at her head. "What if a zombie were to pop out and steal my lieutenant away? I can't go on knowing Yui's missing!"_

_At this, Mio stiffened, and she began to quiver. "Z-zombie?" she stammered, as she stared at Ritsu with wide eyes._

"_Yup! They'd just drag away Yui—Oi… Mio…" Ritsu felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of her face when she saw her best friend immediately curl into a ball, hands over her ears. "I wasn't serious…"_

_The sight of the two childhood friends caused the quiet, blonde of the group to giggle. Kotobuki Tsumugi covered her lips with a hand before she politely excused herself. Unlike the others, she lived further away and had to commute to the school by train. This intersection was their normal parting location, so it was of no surprise to the others. "Sumimasen, but I have to take my leave," Mugi smiled at her friends fondly. "I'll see all of you tomorrow!"_

_Yui momentarily ceased her nuzzling and looked at the thick browed blonde. "Ah! Okay! Bye-bye, Mugi-chan!" she sang, as she waved one hand frantically as the blonde began to cross the street. _

"_S-sayounara!" Azusa managed to stammer, as she moved Yui's arm away from her mouth. _

_Ritsu grinned and nodded at the blonde. "Matte ne!" She glanced down at Mio, who was still cowering in fear from the image of zombies. "Oi, Mio. Mugi's leaving, ya know."  
>No response.<br>The tawny haired girl sighed, and took hold of the back of Mio's navy blazer. If her raven haired best friend refused to move, Ritsu supposed she was going to have to drag Mio home. It was a good thing they lived close to one another, or she might have abandoned the long haired beauty on that street corner…. Okay, not really. "Mio-chaaaaauuun! I'll drag you home if I have to!"_

_Mumbling._

"_Mio?"_

"_Z-z-zombies!"_

_Ritsu sighed, but it was clear she found the whole thing to be somewhat amusing. After all, a small smile was plastered onto her face. With a tug of her arm, the cowering bass player promptly fell onto her rear. "Mio! Mio! Let's go home!" the tawny hair girl nagged, as she continued to tug at the navy uniform blazer. "Ikimashou!"_

_Despite the scene taking place before her, a slight glistening in the sunlight caught Azusa's attention. "Ah—Mugi-senpai!" she called out, as she finally managed to break free of Yui's tight embrace. "Chotto matte, kudasai!" The twin-tailed girl ran after the blonde, who was already walking along the sidewalk which led to the station. _

_Mugi halted upon hearing her name, and turned around to see little Azusa. The younger girl stopped to and bent over to pick something up. "Hm?" _

"_Your keychain!" Azusa called out, as she stood up straight and held the keyboardist's fallen keychain up in the air. "It fell off your bag!"_

_The blonde girl smiled and began to walk back towards her kouhai. "Ah, thank you—!" She stopped speaking and her eyes widened. A hand flew up to her mouth as she let out a blood curdling scream._

_Confused, the garnet eyed girl could only stare at the horrified expression on Mugi's face. "Huh?"_

"_AZUSA!" Ritsu?_

"_Wha—NO!" Mio?_

_Azusa turned around, only to see Yui begin to run towards her. "AZU-NYAA—"_

_The unmistakable sound of a car horn cut through Yui's desperate cry. Garnet eyes widened as they turned to her left, only to see a car heading straight towards her. Her legs wouldn't move, and the car seemed to be moving impossibly fast._

"_YUI-SENPAI—"_

Garnet eyes shot open, and Azusa gasped for air. She stared at the ceiling fan which whirred above her, and it took her a moment to process that she was safe in her room. The young girl closed her eyes, and covered her eyes with her hand. It was that same dream. The same dream that had been haunting her nights for the past few weeks. Every night, whatever pleasant dream Azusa may have been having would suddenly shift into _that._ That horrid accident where she undoubtedly died by automobile… She shuddered, and turned to her side. Sunlight was already streaming through her closed curtains and blinds. With a shaky sigh, she forced herself to sit up and pushed back her bangs. A quick glance to the clock told her it was 6:45. Great.

Why was she having this single dream? It must be unusual for _anyone_ to have a repeated dream for two weeks straight… Right?

And who were those other girls, anyway? She had never met them before. But there was the repeated thought that ran through the back of her head. Those girls were important to her. Azusa wasn't sure _why_ girls in her dreams would be important, but she was sure that they were…

These thoughts continued to nag her as she went through her morning routine. Have breakfast, shower, get dressed, head off. It was a somewhat lonely routine, for she had moved out of her parent's home after she turned 16. But then again, every other 16 year old did the same. It was required of them, after all. After the revolution, the new government declared that once a child turned 16, they would leave their parents and take a placement test to evaluate their academic skills. From there, the child would be sorted into the appropriate school and would be required to either find their own off-campus residency, or move into the provided dormitories. After touring the campus dormitory of Sakuragaoka Girl's High School, the garnet eyed girl had promptly decided that living in those tiny rooms would… well, suck. Azusa was lucky that she had found a girl to split the cost of rent with her.

Regardless, Azusa had finished her morning routine by 7:25. She stared at herself in the mirror after having donned the required uniform. Navy blue blazer, gray skirt, white button down, sky blue ribbon. Check, check, check and check.

Now all that was left to do was to check on her roommate.

As she headed out of her bedroom and into the kitchen, the familiar sight of her roommate's head lying against the table awaited her. Azusa pushed her bangs back, and put a hand on her hips. "Jun," she said, as she went and stood beside her dozing friend. "Hey… Wake up, or we'll be late." Azusa placed a hand on Jun's shoulder and shook the other girl once.

Immediately, Jun lifted her head up, yet her eyes were still sealed shut. "Nn… Azuuuuuuusaaaaa!" she whined, as she lifted her arms up to stretch her back and torso. "I don't wanna go… So early…"

"Early? It's…" A pause as the black haired girl glanced at the microwave's digital clock. "7:30. School starts in half an hour—"

"Make a clone of me and send it to school." _Thud._ Jun's head returned to resting on the tabletop.

A sigh escaped Azusa's lips. She turned on her heels and went into Jun's bedroom, snatched the hanging uniform from the brunette's closet, and went back out into the kitchen. "Here, I got you your uniform," she said, as she set it down in front of Jun. "But I absolutely refuse to dress you—Huh?"

Once more, Jun sat up, and lifted her arms up in the air. "Dress me!"

Azusa stared at her roommate, a sweatdrop making its way down the back of her head. "J-Jun…"

"Just kidding~" The curly haired girl laughed and pulled her t-shirt off. "I'll be done in a second—"

"Get dressed in your room! Mou, have some sense of shame!"

"Mm? At least I have a bra on, right—"

"That's not the point!" Azusa shot back, as she quickly crossed over to the living room and picked up her black guitar case. "Mou, Jun, at least be more responsible in the mornings. We go through this every day…" The girl opened the door and stepped out onto the landing. "Can you hurry up, please? We need to drop off our instruments before class."

Jun grinned as she hurriedly slipped into her uniform. She knew if she took any longer, her short friend would leave her behind. "I know, I know. But hey! At least we live really close to the school, so it's not even a problem if we do this every day," she laughed. The girl quickly threw her curly brown hair into their regular pigtails. Suzuki Jun was quick to snatch up her school bag and bass guitar case. The apartment door slammed shut behind her, and she quickly shoved her key into the keyhole and locked their apartment. Satisfied that their home was properly locked, Jun skipped ahead of Azusa laughing as she ran down the stairs.

Azusa trailed behind, her head already throbbing from the antics of her roommate. Right off, the bat she knew it was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Music filled the room as the trio played on their instruments. They had all arrived early to Sakuragaoka for the sole purpose of making music. The all girl's school was known for producing intelligent young women, more than capable of making it into some of the finer universities. For these three girls, they were simply absorbed in the present, happily creating intricate melodies for those who happened to stray to the third floor of the school.<p>

"Yosh!" The president of the _keionbu_ stopped beating on her yellow drumset. One of the sticks twirled around her fingers as she gave the other two members a wide grin. "I think it's time to take a break and have some of Mugi's cake—"

"What?" The left handed bassist narrowed her eyes at her somewhat lazy best friend. "Ritsu! We can't keep taking breaks if the exam is coming up!" Mio exclaimed, as she took a step towards the drummer. "And if we can't at least beat that lower level band, then there's a good chance that they'll take one of us—Don't be so nonchalant about this!"

Ritsu was already seated at the worn wooden table, hands outstretched as she took a teacup and saucer from their blonde keyboardist. "Hm? Oh, right, right," she shrugged. "I hate this new system. It sucks. Why do we even have to outplay another band just to keep our _keionbu_ going? It doesn't make any sense! And the only reward we get out of 'winning' is whether or not we want to take one of their members and make them our own…" She removed her yellow headband from her head and quickly readjusted it. "Stupid."

The keyboardist set three more sets of teacups and saucers for herself, Mio, and their absent guitarist. "It is a little silly," Mugi agreed. "But I can understand why they would set it up that way. Something like survival of the fittest, I suppose, where the weakest groups are eliminated slowly..."

"Right," Mio nodded, and placed her hands on her hips. "And that's exactly why we need to keep practicing!"

"Eeeeeh, Mio-chaaauun," the tawny haired drummer whined as she cupped her head in her hand. "You take things too seriously. We haven't lost to anyone yet—"

"Pure luck."

"Pure _talent. _Not to mention the fact that last year we took out the only other music club_,_" Ritsu added in cheekily. "So there's really only that new band that we have to worry about, right? That new jazz club or something?"

"If you mean Fresh Leaf Girls—" Mio began.

"They're a tiny group, anyway. They have, what? Three members? And besides, it's kinda hard to practice our songs if we're missing Yui, right?" Ritsu pressed on, continually ignoring Mio's words. "Can't play all of the songs right without our guitarist and vocalist." She paused, and grinned at Mio. "Unless… You wanna sing for us at the performance?"

Those words caused the blood to leave Mio's face, leaving the raven haired girl pale as a sheet. "Ah—N-n-n-no, th-that's okay," she stammered, her bass guitar shaking in her grip.

"Thought so." The victorious tawny haired girl took a triumphant sip of tea from her cup. Beside her, Mugi could only smile and shake her head before she took her own seat at the table.

It took a moment for the blonde to realize that Yui really had been missing. "Ah! Where is Yui-chan?" Mugi asked, as she looked at the smirking Ritsu to the quivering Mio.

The two childhood friends promptly stopped what they were doing, and simultaneously shrugged their shoulders. "I don't know," they answered in unison.

* * *

><p>"Onee-chan! Hurry!" Hirasawa Ui called out to her elder sister as the pair sprinted towards the open gates of their school. Her short ponytail bounced to and fro as she continued her mad dash. Behind her, her older sister ran after her, a black guitar case strapped to her back.<p>

"Ui! Ui!"

"Onee-chan, hurry! The gates'll close—Eh!" The younger girls chocolate eyes widened in horror as she realized that the tall iron gates had begun to slowly close. The sight only caused her to quicken her pace, her navy blue school bag wildly bouncing against her side. "ONEE-CHAN!"

Yui, the elder of the two, looked past her sister and noticed that the gates really were closing. "Ah—OH NO! IF I'M LATE, I WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE MUGI-CHAN'S TEA!" she shouted. In light of this realization, Yui's pace doubled and she hurled by her sister. Before she could completely pass Ui, Yui managed to grab ahold of the younger's blazer, and used her newfound energy to drag her sister into the school grounds. As soon as they were safely on campus, Yui released her sister's jacket and continued to run into the building, past the shoe lockers.

"Ah—Onee-chan! You need to change your shoes-… Oh…" Ui stood outside of the main entrance to the school, and sighed. Of course tea would cause her sister to hurry. And of course her sister would forget to change into her school shoes…

The words of her younger sister were lost as Yui continued her mad dash up the staircase, heading towards the music room. As she rounded the corner to head up to the next flight of stairs, she collided with another girl. The pair fell to the ground, each groaning from the sudden onset of pain they experienced.

Yui turned her chocolate eyes to see who she had smacked into, already ready to apologize to the unfortunate soul who had happened to be in her way. "_Gomen nasai_," she apologized to the twin-tailed girl sitting across from her. "I was running and—"

"Huh?" The younger girl stared back at Yui with garnet eyes. "Yu… Y-Yui-senpai?" Her voice was quiet, and disbelief crossed her face. It sounded as if she were unsure of herself.

"'Senpai?' Kyaa! I've never been called 'senpai' before!" Yui smiled at the other girl. "Ehehehe… 'Yui-senpai'-…" She stopped and blinked several times, looking thoroughly confused. "Eh? Ah—Have we met before?"

The garnet eyed girl felt herself blush a little, and quickly shook her head no. "_Shitsuree shimashita_!" she was quick to apologize. She stood up and bowed quickly before she adjusted the guitar case strapped to her own back. "I—No, we haven't," she answered. "I must have mistaken you for someone else—Sorry." The girl turned to leave, and hurriedly made her way down the hallway, heading towards the room used by the jazz club.

"Wait-…" Yui's words were halted by the sound of the door slamming shut.

Who was that girl?

With a shake of her head, the energetic guitarist quickly made her way up the staircase, eager to join her fellow band mates for morning tea.

* * *

><p>Azusa stood in the jazz room, her back pressed against the door. She had already dropped her instrument off, and Jun had scurried off to the bathroom. Azusa had promised to meet her roommate in class. And as she made her way to the classroom, she ran into that girl from her dreams.<p>

Well, one of the girls, that is.

It took Azusa a moment to recompose herself. Her garnet eyes stared at the worn wooden floor beneath her, and struggled to make sense of what just happened. How had she known that other girl's name? Yui, was it? It had just slipped out of its own accord. But more surprising than that was the fact that the chocolate haired girl had responded to the name.

So she really was Yui-senpai—Er, Yui.

But how did Azusa know that?

A throb of pain shot through her head, and she winced. "Ah…" Her hand immediately clutched her head as she slumped down to the floor. Normally the headaches that she experienced were mild and tolerable. But this pounding in her head… It was as if someone has trapped her inside the kick drum to a drum set, and repeatedly pounded their foot against the bass pedal. She groaned squeezed her eyes shut.

And the strange part about these headaches?  
>She only had them when she thought about that repeated dream.<p>

"Oi! Azusa!"

"Azusa-chan!"

The voices of her two closest friends came from the hallway. At least… It sounded like Jun and Ui.

"Maybe Azusa-chan's in the classroom now?"

"Ui, we were just there… I have a feeling she went back in here—"

"The jazz room?"

"Yup."

Oh… She should probably move…

The door knob rattled above Azusa's head, and the twin-tailed girl was quick to stand up. She stepped out of the way, and smiled at her friends once the door opened. "_Ohayou gozaimasu,_" she greeted the two surprised brunettes. Without explaining herself, she strode past them, her garnet eyes avoiding making any sort of eye contact with bright brown eyes of Ui and the deeper brown of Jun. "We should head to class before we're late."

"Azusa-chan, are you alright?" Ui asked, as she followed after the shortest girl of the trio. She had a worried look on her face. "You look… Troubled."

Jun quickly fell into step with Azusa, and wrapped an arm around the shorter girl's shoulders. "Ah-zu-saaa!" she whined. "What's going on? You okay? You didn't go to the classroom like you said you would." A pout was on her face, and she grinded her pointer finger into the cheek of the raven haired girl.

Azusa sighed and fought the urge to shove Jun off of her. "Mou, Jun, quit it," she sighed. "I have a headache…" She felt the other girl remove herself from her shoulder.

"Eh? I thought they weren't that bad?" Jun blinked a few times, a brow raised.

Ui's hand flew to her mouth. "Ah—Headache? Maybe you should go home and get some rest—"

"No, no, it's fine," Azusa said quickly, as she glanced up at Ui. She stopped in her tracks, and tilted her head slightly, looking over the ponytailed girl's features.  
>Strange. She looked so much like Yui…<br>No, they couldn't be related. Whenever Ui spoke of her _Onee-chan_, Ui seemed to hold her elder sister in such high regard. And such a well-respected sister wouldn't be that spacy girl that she had bumped into, right?

"Ano… Is something wrong, Azusa-chan?" Ui asked, a little uncomfortable with the intense stare she was receiving.

The petite guitarist shook her head quickly. "_Sumimasen_, nothing's wrong… I was just thinking," she answered, as she strode into their classroom. Wanting to avoid any other questions from her friends, Azusa promptly took her seat and placed her head down on the desk. Her eyes fluttered close, and she took a deep breath. This whole day was a mess, and tomorrow wasn't going to be any better. She knew the three of them needed to rehearse. After all, they were playing against the only other band in the school. The stakes were high, and Azusa couldn't afford to lose her keyboardist, Ui, or her bassist, Jun, to Ho-Kago Tea Time. But even then, Azusa wasn't sure so sure that the other band would decide to take one of her members. They did have an outstanding keyboardist and bassist already. So maybe she'd be able to keep ahold of her two bandmates… Geez, thinking about all of this was wearing her down even more. She was exhausted from the stress of tomorrow's performance, her restless night, and running into a girl from her _dreams_ (was only making things confusing). The guitarist was having a hard time understanding her repeated dream, and was having an increasing difficult time figuring out if there was any sort of relation between Yui and Ui.

But really. Who would name their children such similar names?

Ui and Jun stood by the door, each exchanging uneasy glances. It was strange. Normally Azusa would have shoved Jun off for trying to mess with her so early in the morning. And normally Azusa would be amiable in the mornings.

"Something must've happened when I left her alone," Jun muttered to Ui, before she took her seat. "Maybe she'll be better by the time we have rehearsal this afternoon. We gotta practice so we can beat Ho-Kago Tea Time. And maybe then we can get _the_ Akiyama Mio to play with us! Or, or, or—She might even be our singer!"

Ui nodded, and took her own seat. "Right…" She said nothing else to the curly haired brunette, and only offered a small smile before she took her notebook out to prepare for the rest of the day. _"Oh, Onee-chan… We do have to play against you and your friends tomorrow, don't we?"_ she thought to herself, as she began to jot down today's notes.

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Throughout the rest of the day, Azusa failed to take notes. She kept her head down and eyes closed. For the most part, she was resting, allowing herself to get some well-deserved sleep. Lately, the only time she was able to sleep without having that car-accident dream was when she was at school. And right now, Azusa was taking full advantage of this fact. It wasn't long before she felt a hand on her shoulder, roughly shaking her from her catnap.

"Oi, Azusa! Time for lunch," Jun said as she pulled a chair up to her friend's desk. Likewise, Ui did the same.

The raven haired girl lifted her head up from her desk, and used the sleeve of her blazer to wipe away the drool from the corner of her mouth. "Nn... Ah, lunch?" She repeated, her garnet eyes cloudy with confusion.

The curly haired bassist shook her head as she unpacked her lunch. "Yup, yup. Lunch!" She grinned and unsheathed her chopsticks, ready to devour her meal. "_Itadakimasu!_" Without waiting for her friends to bring out their _bentos_, Jun began to stuff her face full of food.

Ui smiled a little bit and set her _bento_ down on the desk. She removed the lid and looked at Azusa, who was moving at a snail's pace. "Azusa-chan, do you know what songs we're going to perform tomorrow? So that way, we already know what songs to polish up this afternoon during rehearsal?" she asked, before murmuring '_itadakimasu'_. "I think one of your songs would be good!"

This pulled Azusa out from her cloud of drowsiness. "What- My songs?" She repeated, wide-eyed. "No- Who's going to sing them?"

"You!"  
>"Mmf."<p>

Azusa stared at her two friends. "No, I can't sing-"

"But you can sing, Azusa-chan!" Ui squealed. "Please sing one of your songs! We only need to perform one, right? You wrote a couple yourself, and we could use those-"

"What about _your_ songs, Ui?" Azusa retorted, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "You wrote '_Uki Uki New Way'_! We could perform that!"

Jun swallowed down her food and pointed her chopsticks at Azusa. "But you're the leader, right? So sing for us!"

"No-"

"IT'S SETTLED!" The curly haired girl announced. "We're going to play '_Watashi wa Watashi no Michi Iku'_!" She grinned and popped open the lid to Azusa's bento, quickly picking out the best parts of the boxed lunch. "No if's, and's or but's about it! This afternoon, that's all we're going to play. Until our fingers bleed!"

The raven haired guitarist smacked away Jun's chopsticks with her own, a sour expression on her face. There was no point in protesting over the song choice, so she took her defeat in silence. That song? It looks like she wouldn't have much of a choice on the matter... All that was left to do was practice the hell out of her piece, and then best Ho-Kago Tea Time tomorrow... She sighed, and thought over the lyrics to her song.  
>'<em>I Go My Own Road'. <em>

Right now, it seemed like this road was leading to another headache of epic proportions.

LINEBREAK

**Note: **fuuuuu, what a rough first chapter, at least, that's how it feels to me. xD; Yes, yes. Alternate Universe. But it's very short, only because it's serving as an introduction to the rest of the story. I promise, it will get better. OTL I'm just so caught up on working on my other two stories at the same time… So I've been dividing my time between them.

Ah, ah. I have a lot of big plans for the story. Why Azusa doesn't remember the others, and why she's having that dream. As well as why Yui has no idea who Azusa is. There's a lot that's going to go on within the next few chapters. I can't make any promises on how long this story will be. Who knows.. It might end up being as long as my Vocaloid fic, Slice of Life.

Anyway, please stick around for the rest of the story!


	2. Let's Go!

**Tsubasa wo Kudasai**

**Chapter 2 – Let's Go!**

Hi, again! I promise this chapter will be longer and more detailed. I just needed a little more time to sort things out between my other two stories and my studies here at my university. But I'm ready to get the ball rolling! Please enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own K-ON! at all.

* * *

><p>A single chord was struck, and the sound blared from the amp that stood beside the anxious guitarist. She fiddled with the knobs, adjusting the tone of her guitar. Another chord was played, and the girl smiled slightly, content with the sound. "Right…" Azusa breathed, as she adjusted the strap to her red Fender Mustang. Her left hand anxiously gripped around the neck of her guitar, and she glanced over at her two band mates. Like Azusa, they were busy setting themselves up for their performance.<p>

From the looks of it, Ui was making sure that every cable to every amp was properly plugged in. The ponytailed girl wiped her brow with the sleeve of her navy blazer. A look of concentration was plastered onto her face as she set up her keyboard, checking to see if the volume was properly adjusted. She looked up from the black and white plastic keys, and gave the guitarist a smile. _Ready._

Azusa smiled a little and looked at Jun. The curly haired bassist was busy tuning her beloved bass, fingers carefully adjusting the knobs after each strum of a string. Throughout the room, the sound of the deep bass echoed, bouncing off of the walls of the empty auditorium. When she finished, Jun turned her dark brown eyes to glance at Azusa. "Eh? Are you waiting on me?"

"Oh, no, we weren't," Azusa said, with a slightly sarcastic tone. "It's not like we have to perform in a few minutes. So go ahead and take your time."

The bassist grinned. "Okay, cool, thanks!" She then turned her attention to her amp.

"Jun!"

"Geez, don't get your panties in a wad, Azusa," Jun laughed, as she looked back at the slightly irked guitarist. "I was just kidding with you." The curly haired girl laughed and slapped the body of her bass as if to emphasize her glee. "You really need to relax—"

Azusa's cheeks puffed out as she frowned at her friend. "Mou, how can I relax when I know we have to perform _and_ compete against another band? !" she groaned, wondering how she could make Jun understand the seriousness of their situation. With a wave of her hand, she gestured at the instruments set up opposite them on the stage. "Look! They came early and set all of their stuff up!"

Jun's dark eyes glanced over at the empty drum set, keyboard, and several amps. "Eh… Okay, so what?" She huffed, as she folded her arms across her chest. "So they like to be ready early, big deal—"

"It is a big deal! It means they're taking this seriously!"

Ui smiled a little, watching her bandmates banter in silence. Her light brown eyes glanced over at Ho-Kago Tea Time's set-up, and she had to stifle back a giggle. It was a bit surprising to see that they had set up early, but Ui was certain that this was due to Mio's constant nagging. But… The competition really was going to start in a few minutes, and none of the members for that band had arrived yet. It was safe to assume that they were in the club room, sipping on tea, while Mio fumed over the fact that they would be late.

"If they're such an amazing band, Azusa," Jun began pointedly. "Where are they?"

"They're-… Oh…" Azusa's fury vanished in a heartbeat as her garnet eyes gazed back at the unoccupied half of the stage. "Eto… I'm not sure…"

"Exactly—"

_BAM!_

The three members of Fresh Leaf Girls looked at the entrance to the auditorium, and saw that their opposition had finally come. The sunlight behind the other four girls masked their appearance, and only allowed Azusa, Jun, and Ui to gaze at their silhouettes.

"YO! Sorry we're late!" A tawny haired girl rushed forward to the stage, a cheeky grin plastered onto her face. The girl put her hands down on the edge of the stage and climbed up. "We had to fight off alien invaders," she explained, as she took her seat at the yellow drum set. The slim wooden sticks slipped into her hand, and she gave the snare drum a good smack. "Gotta save the world and all that."

"Oi, Ritsu, are you sure you aren't the alien here?" A long, raven haired girl joined the drummer onstage, a left-handed bass slung over her shoulder. Her stormy gray eyes gave the amber eyed girl a look of slight irritation. "Because I'm pretty sure you're scaring these girls." She nodded her head at Azusa, Jun and Ui.

"Nah, I'm not an alien, Mio-chaun!"

Mio sighed, and gave the members of Fresh Leaf Girls an apologetic smile. "Don't mind her—"

"Ui! You should have seen the aliens!" Another girl was climbing up the stage, her hair a dark shade of brown. In her hair were two yellow clips, holding back some of her messier strands of hair. "They must've been as tall as… As… Godzilla!"

Azusa stared at this newcomer, and glanced at Ui. Then at the blabbering girl. And then back at Ui.  
>They looked <em>exactly<em> the same, save their hairstyles.

"Were you able to fight them off, Onee-chan?" Ui asked, her smile brightening tenfold.

Jun and Azusa exchanged glances. _Onee-chan?_

"Yup!" The older girl gave Ui a thumbs up, before she was ushered to her place on stage by a blonde girl. The blonde handed Yui her sunburst Les Paul before she took her place behind her Korg keyboard. "Oh—Thanks Mugi-chan!"

Mugi smiled at Yui and simply nodded.

The twin-tailed guitarist could hardly believe her eyes. This was the famous Ho-Kago Tea Time? They looked like someone had just grabbed random girls from the school, thrown them into a room, and demanded that they become a band. A cheeky drummer, a serious looking bassist, quiet keyboardist, and an airheaded guitarist… How could they possibly make a functioning, and amazing band?

Jun noticed the gawking expression on Azusa's face. She snickered, nudged the shorter girl, and nodded her head to the judges table that stood in front of the stage. "You ready?" she whispered.

"Uh.. Y-yeah, of course," Azusa said briskly, quickly donning on a look of utmost confidence.

The single judge put her elbows on the table, and laced her fingers together. Her chin rested on top of her fingers, and she peered at the two bands on stage behind small, oval framed glasses. Brown hair framed her pretty face, and Azusa noted that the woman's hair must have reached her waist. "Right then," the judge smiled. "My name is Yamanako Sawako, and I'll act as the judge for today's events—"

"Oi, Sawa-chan!" The drummer of Ho-Kago Tea Time waved a hand in the air, drumstick twirling impatiently between her fingers. "We know who you are, now let's move on—"

"One point docked for interrupting the judge…" Sawako uncapped her pen and reached for the single scoring sheet labeled 'HTT'.

"AH, NO, I'M SORRY!" Ritsu apologized frantically. "DON'T TAKE A POINT!"

Sawako smiled, and set her pen back down. "As I was saying… I'll be acting as the judge for today's events. The rules are simple. Each band will play one song of their choice. Based on your performance, I will give you a score based on originality, execution, and technique. The band with the highest score wins. After both performances, both bands will be required to leave the auditorium so I can compare the two scores in peace." She pressed her glasses up on her face and nodded once. "You will be called back into the auditorium for the results. The winning band will then have the option of selecting a member from the opposite band to take as their own. However!" The judge paused for dramatic effect. "The losing band can choose to play a second song in order to keep their band member. But if their score for the second song is still lower than the winning band's song, the losing band will be forced to disband. Are there any questions?"

The hand of the guitarist from HTT shot up into the air. "YOSH! SAWA-CHAN!"

"Don't call me Sawa-chan!" Sawako whined. "It's 'Sawako-sensei'!"

Yui blinked a few times, her hand dropping to her side. She was quiet for a moment, and then raised her hand once more. "SAWA-CHAN! If we win, we can pick _anyone_ from the other band? !"

"… Yes," Sawako sighed.

"SO! I can pick Ui! Right, right! ?" Yui clapped her hands together, and bounced up and down in glee.

"… Yes," Sawako answered. "Yes, you could. That is if you win—"

"YOU CAN'T HAVE UI!" Jun roared, one hand held out in front of her, the other on her waist. "UI-CHAN IS OUR KEYBOARDIST!"

Azusa groaned, and tightened the strap for her guitar. "Jun, not now," she muttered as she hung her head in embarrassment.

Silence filled the stage, and the judge was the first to break it. She coughed into her fist, and gestured towards Azusa and her band. "Right. Fresh Leaf Girls… Wakabe Girls, right?"

"Both are right," Azusa answered.

"… Okay, well, you guys can go," Sawako waved her hand. "Just start whenever you're ready."

* * *

><p><strong>Wakabe Girls<strong>

The leader and guitarist of Wakabe Girls stepped towards the microphone that was placed before her. She cleared her throat, and glanced over her shoulder at her two band mates. When she saw that they were both giving her encouraging grins, Azusa's shoulders relaxed, releasing the tension that had been building up in her muscles. She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. She tapped the microphone to make sure it was working. "R-Right," she stammered, and then mentally slapped herself.

Stammering?  
>That was a sign of weakness. And she was determined to triumph over Ho-Kago Tea Time.<p>

"We're Wakabe Girls, and we're going to be playing '_I Go My Own Road_.'" There was a pause as Azusa hesitated, unsure if she should continue on with describing the song and it's lyrical content. Her garnet eyes glanced over at the members of the opposing band, who were watching her intently, curious as to what this song may be about. "It's a personal song… I wrote it when I was feeling a little stressed out from my parents about what I should be doing with my life and who I'll grow up to be." Confidence began to take a hold of her as she continued onwards with her monologue. "And since then, it's sort of become my own personal theme… A mantra, even."

Jun grinned and looked over at Ui. _Look at our president go. When did she suddenly become a confident hot shot?_

Ui smiled, and simply shrugged her shoulders. She had to admit, it was impressive to see Azusa act this way. The confidence that the short girl was emitting was nearly tangible.

"Er—I'm rambling now," Azusa laughed, and her cheeks flushed slightly. "Anyway. I hope you enjoy the song." She looked back at her band mates.

Ui reached over to the sound board and hit a button. Since they had no drummer, they had to make-do with a recording of Ui playing the drum set, while they played along as well.

"One.. Two.." Azusa counted the first two beats.

And with practiced ease, they silently counted themselves in, and filled the auditorium with their music.

The song started off with a strong lead guitar solo, and Azusa's strumming hand furiously began to move, occasionally pressing against the strings to mute their sound. The opening riff repeated, and a look of sheer determination overcame her. She leaned in towards the microphone, and took a deep breath.

"_Who… do you wanna be?"_  
><em>Huh… I dunno but I'm living my own life.<br>So… I'm gonna push and push and push because I lose if I pull  
>Yeah… walkin' in a flexible style like a cat<em>

Her garnet eyes were on fire as she continued to sing and play, adrenaline pumping through her veins. The red Mustang in her grip continued to shout, commanding the attention of those present in the auditorium. The keyboard an bass guitar supported their leader, pressing the song along..

_Independent and alone are my virtues, can't nobody hold me down..._

Both the guitar and the bass came in with a furious run, and both Azusa and Jun's fingers flew down the fret board of their instruments. The chorus came in, and it was plain to see that even the keyboardist knew the lyrics to the song.

_However, soon as I get hugged, I would soften up instantly  
>The human body is weird<br>No textbooks nor dictionaries ever wrote anything 'bout how to overcome this  
>So it's hard<em>

The drummer for Ho-Kago Tea Time was drumming along to the song on her legs, a grin on her face. She couldn't help it. The song was pretty sweet. Gripping the drum sticks, she lifted her arms up, ready to join the younger band. Before she could even bring her drumstick down to the head of the snare drum, a plastic pick flew at her forehead at high speed. A yelp of pain escaped her, which was thankfully masked by the roar of the other band. Ritsu's amber eyes glared at her attacker.

Akiyama Mio frowned at Ritsu and shook her head, relieved to see that she was able to stop her best friend from potentially messing up the younger band. This band was good, and they only had three members. Nevermind the fact that they had to use a recording of the drums to carry the song… It was still good…. She was snapped back to reality when the younger band reached the second verse.

_Whew… It's been about 15 years since I was born, still got a long journey ahead  
>Haa… I'm just a small girl, the sky's the limit<br>But… I don't wanna just look up all the time; I hate losing  
>Yeah… I'm gonna dow what there is to do, whatever it is I would do<em>

At the last part of the line, Jun looked over at HTT, and stuck her tongue out cheekily as if to say "I hate losing, too."

_Hardwork and guts are my beliefs, I gotta keep on movin'…_

_However, soon as I see a taiyaki, I would stop and pause  
>Snacks are great…<br>When they tell me to say "a~n", my mouth would automatically open_

Yui's eyes lit up upon hearing these lyrics. So the young guitarist liked eating snacks, too? Maybe they could have snack time after all of this! A smile spread across her face as she watched Azusa from across the stage. Snack time would be nice.  
>She wrapped her arms around her beloved Les Paul guitar, her smile widening at the thought. Kyaa! Maybe having Azusa join their band would be nice.<p>

Mugi raised a brow when she noticed that the guitar and the bass had quieted down, allowing the keyboard to take the lead. Her blue eyes looked over at the younger Hirasawa, and watched as the brunette's fingers danced up and down the black and white keys. Once Ui completed her solo, a wide smile broke out on her face, and she began to focus on her accompaniment to Azusa's vocals, for the guitar and bass had dropped out.

_I'm clumsy, that's why I'm stubborn, but I also would like to read the situation.  
>If it's gonna make everyone happy, I would even wear those cat ears!<em>

Azusa felt her cheeks flush at the embarrassing lyrics, but her voice was unwavering. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she hoped that no one would notice that her fingers were shaking ever so slightly.

Both Ui and Jun had to hold back their snickers at this. Admittedly, they had once convinced Azusa to try on cat ears, just for shits and giggles. And it had turned out that the raven haired girl was absolutely _adorable_ in nekomimi.

_But why, why, as soon as I get hugged, I would soften up instantly  
>The human body is weird<br>I just love that warm feeling like basking in the sun; and I'm weak to the soft human touch_

The guitar and bass joined in once more, for a short moment, before Jun silenced her bass for the first half of the outro. The red Fender Mustang sang out as its owner sang on.

_Gentle feet, quiet feet, stealthy feet; hill path, flower path, thorny path  
>I'm walkin' my own road, care to join me?<br>Senior, junior, classmate; online friend, real life friend, him and her  
>Everyone's walkin their own road, outta the way, outta the way!<em>

Jun and her bass, and Ui and her keyboard, began to play once more, grins on their faces. The end of the song was near. They joined in, singing the repeated outro along with Azusa.

Jun's fingers strummed at the thick strings of the bass, pressing the others onwards. Azusa's strumming hand furiously moved up and down, occasionally muting the strings as appropriate. Ui's fingers raced along the keys, as she played the vocal's melody through her keyboard.

_Gentle feet, soft feet, quiet feet, hill path, flower path, thorny path  
>I'm walkin' my own road, care to join me?<br>Senior, junior, classmate; online friend, real life friend, him and her  
>Everyone's walkin' their own road, outta the way—<em>

Jun and Ui stopped singing and allowed Azusa to finish.

_**Outta the way!**_

The last chord was held out by Jun and Ui, while Azusa's hand down the fret, changing the pitch of her last chord by several octaves. It echoed throughout the auditorium, allowing the performers to catch their breaths. Their shoulders visible relaxed after reaching the end of their song.

Once the area became silent, HTT broke out into cheers.

Azusa, Jun and Ui looked at one another in surprise. They weren't expecting to be met with such applause.

Each member of Ho-Kago Tea Time was clapping their hand enthusiastically, smiles and grins on their faces. Their guitarist sprinted across the stage and tackled her younger sibling to the ground.

"UI, UI! That was amazing!" Yui exclaimed, as she hugged her sister tightly. "You were so good! All of you were great!" She giggled and rubbed her cheek against her sisters affectionately.

The younger Hirasawa laughed, and hugged her sister back. "Thank you, Onee-chan!"

Mugi giggled, and nodded her head at the younger band in agreement. "Yes, you were all spectacular," she added. "I'm really impressed." The princess-like girl moved behind her Korg keyboard, and pressed the power button. When the LED light flickered on, she placed the tips of her fingers on the keys.

"Right, right? !" Yui exclaimed, as she lifted her head up to look at the blonde heiress. "They were really, really good!"

Ritsu laughed at Yui's antics, and picked her drumsticks up. "Oi, Yui! We get that they were good, and that you love your sister—"

"But we need to play now," Mio finished for her best friend, as she lifted her bass guitar off from its stand and carefully put the strap over her shoulder. Her grey eyes looked at the brunette guitarist, and she sighed. "Come on, Yui-chan."

Yui released her sister from the embrace and made her way across the stage. She picked up Giitah, and took her place in front of one of two microphones. "Sawa-chan! Sawa-chan!" the guitarist squealed into the mike. "We're ready! Are you ready—What are you writing? Are you writing good things about them? What did you say about Ui?"

* * *

><p><strong>Ho-Kago Tea Time<strong>

Sawako hastily finished jotting down the last of her notes on Wakabe Girl's performance. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and looked up at Ho-Kago Tea Time. "I can't tell you what I wrote down," she said pointedly, a slight smirk twisting itself onto her face. "If you're ready, go ahead and start."

Yui gave their judge a sheepish smile, and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Ehehehe.." She put her hand over the strings, double checking to make sure her fingers were on the appropriate strings and fret before she began to play the famous guitar intro to _Fuwa Fuwa Time._ The rest of the band put their arms up in the air and clapped their hands together, save for the drummer, who clicked her sticks together.  
>The drums and bass soon joined in, repeating the same rhythmic pattern as their guitarist. The keyboards played the same chord progression, acting as a harmony to the guitar's melody. Yui took one step closer to the microphone, and began to sing the lyrics to their most popular song.<p>

_Whenever I look at you, my heart throbs wildly  
>This shaky feeling is fluffy like a marshmallow<em>

Azusa and her band mates remained respectfully silent, their eyes trained on the other band. They had seen Ho-Kago Tea Time perform before, at the welcoming ceremony for earlier this school year. It was because of them that Azusa had even worked up the nerve to ask Jun and Ui to make a band with her.

_You're always so hardworking, you never notice me  
>Watching your face so intently…<em>

Garnet eyes focused on the brunette guitarist, watching the older girl's fingers dance across the fret board and strum across the strings furiously. Something about this elder Hirasawa struck a chord deep within the pig-tailed girl. Azusa clenched her jaw tightly, wondering what about Hirasawa Yui could have captured her attention. The brunette guitarist seemed like a complete airhead, and highly irresponsible… the type that Azusa would probably clash with on a day to day basis. But…  
>There was something about this girl that was painstakingly familiar. Maybe they had met before at a park or something… She shook her head. That must be it. An off-hand run-in with Yui.<p>

But that wouldn't explain the fact that Yui had been in her dream.

Or… Was it Ui? The two Hirasawas were similar in appearance… It wouldn't be too out of place to think that Ui might have been the one in her dream.

_And only in my dreams can we ever  
>Get close to each other<em>

At those lyrics, a throbbing pain pulsated through Azusa's brain. She winced, and brought a hand to her temple. Gently, she massaged the temple, hoping the pain would fade away. Another headache? Her garnet eyes closed as she willed for the throbbing to subside. All she wanted to do was listen to this sickeningly sweet song. Was that too much to ask for?

Jun's dark eyes noticed the pigtailed girl wince in pain and the smile that had been on her face faded slightly. Something was wrong… She took a step towards Azusa, but stopped when she saw the smaller girl exhale and turn her attention back to the performing band. That was strange. Azusa was normally so well composed… Jun shrugged her shoulder slightly and looked back at HTT, mentally vowing to ask Azusa about it later.

Both the bassist and guitarist of Wakabe Girls were too preoccupied to hear the middle portion of the song, and managed to come back in during the end of the second round of the chorus. And their attentions were instantly captured by the brunette guitarist, who stepped past the microphone at the start of her guitar solo.

Yui's fingers frantically made their way up and down the fret board of her sunburst Les Paul guitar, and her strumming hand plucked away at the appropriate strings. Azusa watched in awe as the elder guitarist executed a flawless solo, and then managed to step back to the microphone to sing the something about the guitar solo seemed empty to Azusa, as if another part were supposed to be played during the solo. Yes, the bass, drums, and keyboard were all playing their respective parts. But something was missing.  
>Lost in thought, the raven haired guitarist was only dimly aware that the only sort of accompaniment that Yui received during the bridge was from the guitar.<p>

_If I can just have some courage  
>And try to speak to you naturally<em>

Garnet eyes met chocolate as the two guitarists locked eyes from across the stage. Azusa felt her heart rate quicken, and she caught her breath. Yui smiled at her, and continued on, seemingly unaffected by their brief, silent exchange.

Before Azusa could even think about what had just happened, the drums and bass joined in with a powerful beat.

_Would anything change?  
>Yeah, I think so…<em>

_But dat's da biggest problem, ya see.  
>Cuz then I'll need to think of a topic of conversation!<br>And it ain't gonna be ntural for me to do that in da first place..  
>Ahh, that's enough! Sleep, sleep, sleep!<em>

Azusa could have sworn that Yui gave her a wink.  
>Wait. Did Yui just try to rap that part of the song?<p>

Just what kind of band was Ho-Kago Tea Time, anyway?

Interrupting the garnet eyed girl's thoughts was the voice of Mio, who echoed Yui's line with her own, "_Yeah~ Let's sleep!~"_

And once more, the entire band burst with sound as they entered the final stretch of their song.

_Ah, God please  
>Grant me some Miracle Time, just once!<br>When I finlly get that chance to talk to you, then afterwards…  
>We'll see<em>

_Fuwa, fuwa, time~  
>Fuwa, fuwa, time~<br>Fuwa, fuwa, time~_

The last few bars were played, and ended with an energetic drum fill from a grinning Ritsu, Mugi running her fingers down the black and white keys, as well as one final chord from both Yui and Mio. The chord was silenced, and the members of HTT exchanged breathless smiles and grins of accomplishment.

"WHOA! THAT WAS GREAT!" Jun exclaimed, before she coughed into her fist. "Er… I mean.. You know… It was pretty good." Her cheeks flushed as she looked away, clearly embarrassed by her sudden outburst.

Ui, on the other hand, clapped her hands together ecstatically. "Onee-chan! You were amazing!" A certain pig-tailed guitarist stared at the brunette keyboardist, a sweatdrop rolling down the back of her head. Of course Ui would have a sister complex…  
>Of course.<p>

Yui giggled, and "shly" looked down at the wooden panels of the stage. "Aw, shucks—"

"AW-RIGHT!" Ritsu jumped up from her seat, a fist thrown up into the air. "WE'RE GONNA WIN THIS FOR SURE!" The drummer was ecstatic about their performance, continuing on to declare that that was the best that they had ever played _Fuwa Fuwa Time_.

Mugi and Mio exchanged weary smiles, neither having the energy to put down the balls of energy known as the Ritsu-Yui dynamic duo. Rather than try and get Ricchan to shut up, Mio simply set her bass guitar down on its stand and began to walk off stage. It seemed that she was the only one who had remembered Sawako's words. "Ritsu, Yui… Mugi."

Both Ritsu and Yui watched Mio walk off stage, and then watched as Mugi followed their bassist. The pair looked at one another. "Eh?" They couldn't understand where their fellow band mates were going.

"Ne, ne, Ui, where is everyone— Ui? !" Yui's chocolate eyes widened when she realized that even Wakabe Girls had left the stage. "CAPTAIN!"

Ritsu looked at Yui, a theatrical expression of horror on her face. "PRIVATE!" she exclaimed. "It looks like everyone was taken in by enemy forces!"

"Oh no! What should we do? !"

"LEAVE!" Sawako shouted, her head in her hands.

The two remaining girls on stage looked at Sawako, and giggled cheekily as they exited the stage.

Once the room fell into silence, the spectacled teacher looked at the two pieces of paper before her. Sawako read over her notes on both performances, and she sighed. This was going to be a tough one. The teacher leaned back into her seat, and folded her arms across her chest. She closed her eyes as she mentally replayed the performances, picking out the strong and weak points for the two bands.

Yes, this was going to be incredibly difficult.

Sawako sighed, and opened her eyes, only to stare up at the ceiling. At least the two bands would have time to enjoy themselves before hearing her declare a winner…

Boy, did Sawako hate judging the performance of two talented groups.

* * *

><p><strong>Judging Break<strong>

The two bands sat on opposite ends of the hallway, huddled closely together as they each went over what course of action to take should they lose or win.

Azusa stood above her two friends, arms folded across her chest. "Mou, they were really good," she sighed, as she began to pace to and fro. Although Azusa appeared to look fine, Jun and Ui noticed the look of worry in those garnet eyes. "But, I think we have a good shot of beating them."

"Yeah?" Jun blinked several times. "You think so?"

"Yes."

"I think we're about to fail. Epically." The bassists tone was apathetic, and she merely shrugged her shoulders. "Might as well accept defeat—"

"No!" Azusa exclaimed, irritated that Jun would be so quick to admit a loss. "We won't lose! We can't lose! If we lose they might take one of us away, and we'd never be able to continue to function as a band!"

Ui looked at her two friends, worriedly. "Ah—A-Azusa-san," she stammered, holding a hand up to placate the fuming twin-tailed girl. "Please, calm down… I'm sure things will work themselves out," she added, with a nod.

The guitarist's tiny hands gripped the sleeves of her navy blazer.

Jun gave Azusa a lopsided grin, amused to see the younger girl get worked up so easily. "Geez, Azusa~ I was only kidding around," she laughed. "But seriously… I dunno what's going to happen now. They were pretty good—That's not to say that we didn't do really well ourselves," she added quickly, when she saw rage flicker across those garnet eyes. "Let's just say we _do_ win. What do you want to do?"

Azusa answered immediately with, "We take Tainaka-san and make her our drummer."

"I figured that's what you'd say."

"What?" Azusa frowned slightly. "We need a drummer, and Tainaka-san is really good! We'd be wasting the opportunity if we decided to go with anyone else-… No, Ui-chan, we can't pick your sister…"

The younger Hirasawa looked absolutely distraught over the fact that Azusa refused to select Yui to join their band. "But—Onee-chan—"

"She's really good," Azusa admitted. "But we _really_ need a drummer if we want to be a proper band. Right, Jun?"

Jun held her hands up. "Don't get me involved in this—"

"I said, _right Jun?" _The shorter girl shot a deadly glare at the bassist

"…Right." If looks could kill, Jun was sure she would have died on the spot…

"See? Even Jun thinks so," Azusa nodded. She gave Ui a sympathetic smile. "But, the next time we play against them and win, we can pick your sister to join our band. Okay?"

Upon hearing this, Ui was instantly placated. "Okay!"

Azusa and Jun looked at one another, and shook their heads.

Meanwhile, Ho-Kago Tea Time were busily talking about who to select in case they happened to win the competition.

At least, that's what Mio wished they were doing. Instead of discussing what course of action to take, the group was sipping tea from the thermos that Mugi had oh-so-graciously brought along. The drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist wore expressions of content as they sipped from their cups.

Mio facepalmed, but lifted her head up from her hand when she heard a click come from behind her.

The doors to the auditorium opened and Sawako poked her head out. "I'm ready to announce the winner," she said, before she withdrew her head and went back to the judge's desk.

* * *

><p>The two groups entered the auditorium and stood before the brunette judge. It was clear that all of them were anxious to hear Sawako's decision.<p>

Azusa was forcing herself to keep her composure, but waiting for those fated words was beginning to take a toll on her. She kept her arms by her sides, hands clenched into fists. Beside her, Jun was uneasily shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Ui's normally hope filled eyes were a little wide as she waited in anticipation.

The president of Ho-Kago Tea Time had her arms behind her head, and like Jun, she too was bouncing from one foot to the other. Her best friend, Mio, seemed to be shaking from nerves. From what Ritsu could see, it seemed that Mugi was too busy drooling over Sawako. And Yui? The guitarist had balled her hands into fists, and she was bouncing up and down like a little kid, anxiously waiting for their turn to "meet" Santa Claus.  
>As expected from her closest friends.<p>

"Right then," Sawako cleared her throat and gathered up her papers. She gave the two bands a warm smile, hoping to calm their nerves. "Let me begin by telling you all that your performances were absolutely wonderful. They were both well executed, and it's clear that you all put forth a lot of effort into it. You must have been practicing very hard."

"Sawa-chan! We actually didn't practice that much, and we pulled an all-nighter last night—oof!" Yui received a quick jab in the ribs from a certain yellow head-banded drummer.

"…" Sawako resisted the urge to facepalm. "Like I was saying… It was very difficult to decide who should win today's match. But after reading over my notes and thinking over the performances…"

Azusa held her breath. "_Please let us win, please let us win—We have to win. We must have won. I can't lose," _she thought desperately.

"Ho-Kago Tea Time… congratulations on another win."

The black haired guitarist felt her heart sink.

_What?_

"YOSH! I KNEW IT!" Ritsu pumped a fist into the air.

"That being said, you're free to decide on what to do now. Remember, you can either select a member from Wakabe Girls to make your own, or you can choose not to do anything to them," Sawako informed the group. "You have five minutes to decide—"

"_MATTE!"_ Azusa exclaimed. When she noticed the shocked stares on the others faces, her face flushed. "Ah—I mean… W-wait," she stammered. "Don't we get a chance to rebuttal? You said we could play another song for a chance to keep my band together!"

"…Eh?" The drummer's fist lowered a little as she stared at tiny guitarist. "…Oi, Mio…"

"Mm?"

"What does 'rebuttal' mean?" Ritsu asked, her face blank.

Mio sighed. "It means—"

"Ah! That's right!" Sawako nodded quickly. "I had forgotten—I'm sorry, Nakano-san. Yes, you can choose to play a second song if you think it will allow you to win—"

"Yes! We want to play another song!" Azusa interrupted once more, already running up to the stage. Jun and Ui were quick to follow their leader, both wanting to keep their band together as well. The strap to the red guitar was quickly hoisted onto Azusa's shoulder, and Jun mimicked the guitarist. Ui stood behind her keyboard, and brought it to life with the press of a button.

The members of HTT exchanged looks. Ritsu looked a little deflated that her victory celebration had been interrupted.

Sawako, on the other hand, only smiled at the energy that had taken a hold of the younger band. After listening to Azusa's band play, it was clear to her that the small girl was determined to do everything within her power to keep her and her friends together. The sheer determination that was plastered onto the pig-tailed guitarists face was more than enough proof of this.

"Please! Listen to us play our next song!" Azusa announced.

Jun blinked a few times and looked at her guitarist. "Eh? Wait. Wait. What song are we playing, anyway?"

"Of course we're going to play—ah…"

"…You didn't think that far ahead, huh?" Jun sighed. "Way. To. Go—"

"No—Sh-shut up! We'll play _Shrew Way to Go!"_

Ui's eyes widened slightly. "Huh?"

"What? ! But we never—"

Azusa ignored Jun's protest and began to strum out the guitar intro to the song. She repeated the four bars over and joined in with the vocal part. Even though she knew it was rude of her to push aside her roommate in such a manner, she was desperate to keep her band together. Anything to win. Anything to keep their band alive.

_Just take this shrew to a groove  
>That doesn't know how to be alone<br>Though I pull away, I'm happy and having fun  
>I just don't know how to say it<br>I'll straightforwardly convey it with my pure and peaky sound…_

In silence, HTT stood before the stage, watching the younger girls put on their second performance. The song that Wakabe Girls had chosen to perform was spunky, and full of energy. Perhaps it was because they had a sense of urgency about them as they performed. The realization that they may very well be disbanded could have caused the younger girls to suddenly perform with more enthusiasm.  
>Ritsu leaned over towards Mio, arms folded across her chest. "Oi," she whispered. "If they win this, what happens?"<p>

Mio wanted to smack Ritsu on the upside of the head. "Weren't you paying attention?" she whispered back. "If they win this time around, they can stay together and we don't get a new member."

"… Oh."

"Yes."

"… But if they don't win—"

"Then they get disbanded and we get a new member."

"…Oh."

"Honestly, you should pay more attention to these things," Mio sighed. Her gray eyes noticed the concentrated look on Yui's face. "See? Even Yui's paying attention."

And the brunette guitarist was quite focused on the performance. Her chocolate eyes watched the raven haired guitarist strum on her guitar, tiny fingers gliding across the fret boards. Something about this smaller girl was calling her in. Maybe it was because Azusa was so tiny? Yui cocked her head to once side as she mused over this. No, that wasn't it. Something about Azusa ensnared Yui's curiousity…  
>Oh. That's right.<br>Azusa had been the one to call her "Yui-senpai" yesterday morning.

Yui grinned and nodded her head at this realization.  
>Ah, but what was it that had happened yesterday morning? They had collided, and… Azusa seemed to have recognized her, and even called her by her name.<br>The grin on Yui's face wavered.  
>Which was strange… Since… They had never met before.<p>

So what was that all about?

_The wish this shrew strums on  
>Is to be laughing out loud with everyone<br>Jump, jump, follow you up everywhere,  
>I love so amazing and fantastic New World.<em>

The band reached the conclusion of the song, and ended it with a power chord that was quickly muted. Azusa, Jun, and Ui were left breathless, and they exchanged mixed looks. That was the first time that they had ever made it to the end of _Shrew Way to Go_ before, so the mere fact that they were able to finish the song was a miracle in itself.

But was it good enough to allow them to stay together?

The three of them looked off stage, ignoring the worried expressions on the faces of HTT's members, who were busily whispering amongst themselves.

No, the three girls on stage had zeroed in on Sawako, the person who mattered most at the moment. If this woman decided that they weren't good enough, then their band was doomed.

"…Well?" Azusa asked, once she caught her breath. "What did you think?

Noticing the intense gazes on the performer's faces, Sawako leaned back into her seat, and sighed. "Give me a moment to think things over," she said, before she looked back at the freshly scribbled notes written on a sheet of paper. The teacher was well aware that no matter who she declared the victor, one of the groups would be extremely crushed by her decision.

Wakabe Girls was desperate to stay together.

Ho-Kago Tea Time had been on a victory streak, so their ego was on the line.

And she wasn't being paid enough to crush the hopes of high school girls.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: <strong>And we've reached the end of chapter 2. I wonder if this chapter made sense to anyone? XD; I hope it did. I had a hard time describing the adrenaline rush that comes with performing. As a musician, the feeling of performing on stage is pretty exhilarating. It's hard to duplicate the adrenaline rush by using words. Maybe if I gave all of you 3 Red Bulls and told you all to drink them back to back, you might understand? Maybe… Maybe not. Maybe you'd all get sick from the energy drinks… XD;;

But, ah! I have a lot of plans for this story. And I'm really excited about writing more for it as well!

_Reviewer Replies:_

_PaperCutVictim:_ Yeah, I thought I'd wait a bit longer before publishing it, too… XD;;; But… I guess I'm too impatient for my own good? Hahaha. Thank you for all of your help, by the way! :D

_Commando Chocomint:_ Thank you! Glad to see that you like it so far!

_ZIIIX: _I'm updating all of my stories as fast as I can. XD; I'd like to apologize in advance for any future delays. But, ah, yes, I understand what you mean. I'll definitely try and tone down the Japanese. (^^;;) Thank you for your input, and for the review!

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If anyone else finds any errors within the chapter, feel free to write a review, or send me a PM pointing them out. Hopefully, it'll help me avoid making the same mistake twice!

Also, I'd like to make a shout out to PaperCutVictim! Thanks for reading over the chapter for me! :D You've been a real big help, not only with this story, but with my others as well! ^^ I appreciate it!

That being said, thank you all for reading! I hope you can continue to enjoy this work! :D Take care, and I'll see you in the next chapter!


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